Accusations And Silence

Mirum forsitan videatur vobis, fratres, cur Dominus apud praesidem Pilatum a principibus sacerdotum accusetur, et taceat, nec nequitiam eorum sua responsione convincat, cum utique ingestam accusationem nonnisi refellere soleat subsecuta defensio. Mirum, inquam, fiat, fratres, quod arguatur Salvator, et taceat; taciturnitas enim interdum pro consensu habetur; videtur namque confirmare, quod objicitur, cum non vult respondere, quod quaeritur. Accusationem ergo suam Dominus tacendo confirmat? Non plane accusationem suam tacendo confirmat, sed despicit non refellendo; bene enim tacet, qui defensione non indiget. Ambiat defendi, qui metuit superari. Festinet loqui, qui timet vinci. Christus autem cum condemnatur, et superat; cum judicatur, et vincit, sicut ait propheta: Ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris. Quid ergo opus erat ei loqui ante judicium, cui ipsum judicium erat plena victoria. Vincit enim cum judicatur Christus, quia sic innocens approbatur; unde ait Pilatus: Innocens ego sum a sanguine hujus justi. Melior est igitur causa, quae non defenditur, et probatur; plenior justitia est, quae non verbis astruitur, sed veritate fulcitur. Taceat lingua necesse, ubi ipsa aequitas sibi adest; taceat in bono negotio, quia et malas causas obtinere consuevit. Nolo sic defendi justitiam, sicut solet iniquitas excusari. Quod vincit Christus, non orationis est, sed virtutis; scit enim Salvator, qui est sapientia, quomodo tacendo vinceret, quomodo non respondendo superaret: atque causam suam mavult comprobare quam dicere. Quae enim res illum compelleret ad loquendum, cum silentium satis sufficeret ad vincendum? Sed fortasse metus eum cogeret, ne salutem perderet, nisi quod ipsa erat tota causa victoriae; suam enim salutem perdidit, ut salutem omnium lucraretur; in se vinci maluit, ut victor esset in cunctis. Sed quid de Christo loquar? Susanna mulier apud inimicos suos tacuit, et vicit. Non enim apud Danielem judicem verborum se ratione defendit, non patrocinii sermone tutata est; sed in sancta femina, tacente lingua, pro ea castitas loquebatur. Castitas enim Susannae adfuit in judicio, quae eam defendit et in paradiso; ibi enim pudori ejus consuluit, 143 hic saluti; ibi ne macularetur pudicitia, hic ne innocentia damnaretur. Castitas ergo Susannae et presbyteros, et impudicos convicit in paradiso, et in judicio falsos accusatores obtinuit, bisque victrix reos facit testimonii, quos reos fecerat adulterii. At quem tandem judicem meretur castitas? Danielem puerum juniorem, nec dum pubescentis aetatis. Multum igitur de Deo pudicitia consequitur, cum judicem virginem promeretur; secura enim est de victoria castitas, cui est judicatura virginitas. Pudicitiae autem causam, nisi vir pudicus audire non debuit; talem enim arbitrum meretur castimonia, apud quem non periclitetur verecundia. Cognito igitur Daniel Susannae negotio, cum eam falsis accusationibus vellet plebs imperita damnare, ait idem: Mundus ego sum a sanguine hujus. Quo dicto peccantis populi revocavit errorem. Hac ergo voce circa Susannam Daniel utitur; qua circa Dominum usus est Pilatus; ait enim Pilatus: Mundus ego sum a sanguine hujus justi. Eadem igitur sententia solvitur pudicitia, qua est absoluta justitia. Sed Daniel melius quam Pilatus; ille enim pudicum sanguinem non condemnat, sed liberat; hic autem justum sanguinem et confitetur, et tradit. Quid enim profuit testimonium perhibuisse innocentiae, et velut reum addixisse nequitiae, nisi quod gravius peccatum est, unum eumdemque et pronuntiare justum, et tradere quasi criminosum? Ipse enim iniquitatis suae testis est, qui ore absolvit, et corde condemnat. Laverit licet manus suas Pilatus, tamen sua facta non diluit; et quamvis abstergere se putaverit justi sanguinem de suis membris, eo tamen sanguine mens ejus tenetur infecta. Ipse enim occidit Christum, qui eum tradidit occidendum; judex enim constans et bonus, ne sanguinem innocentis addiceret, nec invidiae cedere debuit, nec timori. Daniel ergo melius quam Pilatus: ille peccantis populi revocavit errorem; hic autem furentis Synagogae sacrilegium confirmavit. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia XLVI , De accusato et judicato Domino apud Pilatum Source: Migne PL 57.331c-334b

Perhaps it seems a wonder to you, brothers, why the Lord at the court of Pilate, when He was accused by the chief priests, was silent, and did not convict their wickedness with His own answer, 1 when an accusation is not customarily allowed unless it is possible that it might be refuted by a subsequent defence. Let there be wonder here, brothers, that the Saviour is accused and is silent, for silence is held to be consent, since it seems to confirm what is asserted when one chooses not to answer what is asked. Did, then, the Lord confirm his own accusation with silence? No, plainly His silence did not confirm His accusation, but he scorned a rebuttal, for he is wisely silent who is in no need of defence. He who is keen to defend himself fears that he shall be overcome. He makes haste to speak who fears to be overthrown. But when Christ is condemned, He overcomes, and when He is convicted He conquers, as the prophet says, 'That you be justified in your words, and triumph when you are judged.' 2 What need, then, was there for Him to speak before judgement, when that judgement was full of victory? For Christ triumphs when he is judged because He is proved innocent, whence Pilate says, 'I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man.' 3 Thus better is that cause which is not defended and is proved. Greater is the righteousness which no words prop up but which the truth supports. It is necessary that the tongue be silent when justice is near, for the tongue is silent in good affairs and accustomed to labour for bad cases. Righteousness is not defended in the way that wickedness is customarily excused. Christ does not conquer with speeches but with virtue. The Saviour, who is wisdom, knows how to conquer by silence and how to overcome without answering, and in this way He prefers to prove His own case than to speak. What is it that would compel one to speak when silence is sufficient to conquer? But perhaps fear compels, lest safety be lost? Yet that was the whole cause of victory, that He should lose his safety so that He might advance the salvation of everyone. He preferred for Himself to be conquered so that He might be a victor for everyone. But why do I speak of Christ? Susanna was silent before her enemies and triumphed. 4 For it was not until Daniel that her cause was defended with words, nor was she protected with speech by lawyers, but in holy womanhood, with a silent tongue, she spoke for her chastity. Susana was chaste in judgement, which she defended in the garden. There she looked to her modesty, here to her salvation. There lest her modesty be defiled, here lest innocence be damned. Therefore the chastity of Susanna convicted the wicked elders in the garden, and in court revealed false accusers, and twice the victorious woman makes them guilty by witness who would have made her guilty of adultery. But what judge should chastity have? Daniel, a youth, who had not yet reached the age of maturity. Therefore modesty receives much from God when it merits a virginal judge. For chastity is certain of victory when it is judged by virginity. But the cause of modesty should not be heard unless before a modest man, for chastity merits such a judge, and it will be endangered without it. Thus Daniel understood Susanna's case, and when the unlearned people wished to condemn her with false accusations, he said, 'I am clean of this blood.' Which saying he exposed the error of a people at fault. With this voice Daniel was of use to Susanna, which then Pilate employed for the Lord, for he said: 'I am clean of the blood of this righteous man.' Thus modesty quashed the same sentence with its perfect justice. But Daniel was better than Pilate, since he did not condemn modest blood, but freed it, while the latter confessed blood to be righteous and then handed it over. What use to have held to the witness of innocence and then to have assented to the guilt of wickedness, unless that the sin is heavier to pronounce one and the same man just and then to hand him over as a criminal? He is a witness of his own wickedness who with his mouth absolves and with his heart condemns. Pilate may wash his hands, but he cannot make his act clean. Though he thinks to scrub the blood of a righteous man from his members, yet his mind is stained with it. For he kills Christ who hands him over to his killers. The good and constant judge, lest he abandon innocent blood, should not be overcome by envy or fear. Therefore Daniel was better than Pilate, for the former exposed the error of a people in fault, and the latter confirmed the sacrilege of the enraged Synagogue. Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 46, On the Accusation And Judgement of the Lord before Pilate 1 Mt 27.12 2 Ps 50.6 3 Mt 27.24 4 Dan 13

Death And Susanna

Ingemuit Susanna, et ait: Angustiae mihi sunt undique. Undique enim mors; hinc quidem corporea, inde spiritualis. Si hoc, inquit, egero, mors mihi est; si autem non egero, non effugiam manus vestras. Vestras, o Pharisaei, manus nec adultera effugit, nec pudica: vestras accusationes nec sanctus, nec peccator evadit. Dissimulatis peccata vestra, ubi inveneritis aliena: alioquin si quis forte suum non habet, vestrum ei impingitis crimen. Quid tamen Susanna facit, inter mortem et mortem, animae scilicet et corporis, undique angustata? Melius est mihi, inquit, absque opere incidere in manus hominum, quam derelinquere legem Dei mei. Nimirum sciebat ista, quam horrendum sit incidere in manus Dei viventis. Nam homines quidem, cum occiderint corpus, animae non habent ultra quid faciant: ille autem timendus est, qui potestatem habet et corpus et animam mittere in gehennam. Quid familia Joachim tardat? Irruat per posticum, nam in pomerio clamor auditur; clamor autem luporum gravium, et balantis oviculae inter eos. Sed non patitur ab eis innoxiam devorari, qui ab ipsis eorum faucibus tam dignanter eripuit etiam eripi non merentem. Merito proinde cum duceretur ad mortem, erat cor ejus fiduciam habens in Domino, quem usque adeo timuisset, ut timorem omnem postposuisset humanum, et ipsius legem et simul vitae praeposuisset, et famae. Non enim dictus fuerat sermo hujuscemodi aliquando de Susanna. Sed et parentes ejus justi erant, et vir ejus honoratior omnium Judaeorum. Merito igitur a justo Judice justam de injustis obtinuit ultionem, quae tam vehementer justitiam esurivit, ut propter eam contemneret mortem corporis, opprobrium generis, luctum inconsolabilem amicorum. Et nos, fratres, si a Christo audivimus: Nec ego te condemnabo, si peccare jam nolumus contra ipsum, si in Christo volumus pie vivere; necesse est sustineamus persecutionem, ne malum pro malo, aut maledictum pro maledicto reddamus. Alioquin qui patientiam non servaverit, perdet justitiam; hoc est, vitam perdet; hoc est, perdet animam suam. Mihi vindictam, et ego retribuam, dicit Dominus. Ita prorsus est. Ipse retribuet, sed si ei vindictam serves, si non tollas ab eo judicium, si non reddas retribuentibus tibi mala. Faciet judicium, sed injuriam patienti; in aequitate judicabit, sed pro mansuetis terrae. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Sanctis, In Festo Annuntiationis Beatae Mariae Virginis, Sermo III Source: Migne PL 183.395a-396a

Susanna groaned and said, 'There is anguish for me on all sides...' 1 For death is on all sides, here of the body, there of the spirit. 'If I shall do this it is death for me,' she says, 'but if I do not, I shall not escape your hands.' Your hands, O Pharisees, that do not turn away from an adulteress, 2 nor a modest woman. Neither a holy woman, nor a sinful one escaped your accusations. You disregard your sins where you come on those of another. Perhaps only if someone did not have yours, would you impute your crime to them. But what does Susanna do between death and death, the death of the body and the death of the soul, with anguish on all sides? 'Better it is for me,' she says, 'to fall into the hands of men, than to abandon the law of my God.' Certainly she knew that it is a terrible thing to fall into hands of the living God. For when men kill the body, beyond what they do, they do not take hold of the soul, but He is fearful who has the power to send both the body and the soul to hell. 3 Why did the family of Joachim delay? They slipped in through a side door. In the orchard a cry was heard, a cry of great wolves and the bleating of a little sheep among them. But it was not permitted they she who was harmless be devoured by them, she who was worthy to be seized from their throats did not deserve to be seized by them. With merit, then, when she was lead to death her heart had confidence in the Lord, who even then she feared, so that she set Him above every human fear, and at the same time set His law above her life and honour. For though not a word was said anywhere about this regarding Susanna, yet it was said that her parents were righteous, and her husband was a man who was most honoured among the Jews. With merit therefore, vengeance was obtained from the righteous judge against unjust men, since she so vehemently hungered for justice, and because of that cared not for this body of death, 5 and the opprobrium of the people, and the inconsolable grief of friends. And so it is with us, brothers, if we have been heard by Christ. I shall not condemn you if you have no wish to sin against Him, if you wish to live piously in Christ. It is necessary that we should endure persecution and not return evil for evil, nor a curse for a curse. 4 For he who does not cleave to patience ruins righteousness, and he ruins his life, that is, he ruins his soul. 'Vengeance is mine and I shall repay,' says the Lord. 6 So it will be. He shall repay if you guard His vengeance, if you do not take judgement away from Him, if you do not return evil to those who have given it to you. He shall give judgement, but for the one who endures wrongdoing. He shall judge fairly, but for the meek of the earth. 7 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons On The Saints, On The Feast Of The Annunciation, from Sermon 3 1 Dan 13.22 2 Jn 8.3-11 3 Heb 10.31, Mt 10.28 4 Mt 5.6, Rom 7.24 5 1 Pet 3.9 6 Rom 12.19 7 Isaiah 11.4

Mary And Susanna

Qui ergo liberavit Susannam mulierem castam, coniugem fidam, a falso testimonio seniorum  ipse liberavit et virginem Mariam a falsa suspicione mariti sui. Inventa est ergo virgo illa praegnans, ad quam vir non accesserat. Uterus quidem fetu intumuerat, sed virginalis integritas manserat. Seminatorem fidei fide conceperat. Dominum q in suum corpus assumpserat, non eius corpus violari permiserat. Marito tamen tamquam homini venit in suspicionem. Aliunde esse credebat, quod de se non esse sciebat, et ipsum aliunde adulterium suspicabatur. Ab angelo corrigitur. Quare dignus fuit ab angelo corrigi? Quia non in illo erat malevola suspicio, quales Apostolus dicit, malevolas suspiciones nasci inter fratres. Malevolae suspiciones sunt calumniantium, benevolae suspiciones sunt gubernantium. Licet de filio male suspicari, sed filio non licet calumniari. Suspicaris malum, sed optas invenire bonum. Qui benevole suspicatur, vinci cupit; tunc enim bene laetatur, quando falsum inventum fuerit quod male suspicatur. Talis erat Ioseph circa coniugem suam, cui corpore non erat mixtus, sed tamen fide iam fuerat copulatus. Venit ergo et Virgo in falsam suspicionem. Sed sicut pro Susanna adfuit in Daniele Spiritus, sic pro Maria adfuit Ioseph angelus : Noli timere accipere Mariam coniugem tuam. Quod enim de ea nascitur, de Spiritu Sancto est. Ablata suspicio est, quia inventa redemptio est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, Sermons ad Populum, Sermones De Scripturis Veteris et Novi Testamenti, CCCXLIII, Tractatus De Susanna et Ioseph  Source: Migne PL 38.1507

Therefore He who liberated the chaste lady Susanna, a faithful wife, from the false witness of the elders, 1 also liberated the virgin Mary from the misplaced suspicion of her husband. That virgin was found to be pregnant, to whom her man had not come. 2 Her womb swelled with child, but the integrity of her virginity persisted. In faith she conceived the sower of the faith. The Lord who by her took up His body, did not permit violation of her body. However, to her husband, as a man, came suspicion. From another he thought it to be, because from himself he knew it not to be, and from another he suspected adultery. By an angel he was corrected. Why was he worthy to be corrected by an angel? Because his was not a malevolent suspicion, the sort which the Apostle speaks of: that give birth to malevolent suspicions among brothers. 3 Malevolent suspicions are calumny, benevolent suspicions pertain to direction. It is permitted that one suspect a son of wrongdoing but not that one calumniate him. You suspect evil, but you wish to find good. He who suspects benevolently, he desires to be refuted, that he might rejoice in good when he finds that the evil he suspected is false. So it was with Joseph and his wife, to whom he had not been joined in the body, but whom he had however joined with in faith. Thus the Virgin came under false suspicion. But as for Susanna the Spirit was near in Daniel, so for Mary the angel came to Joseph. 'Do not be unwilling to take Mary as your wife. For what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.'4 Suspicion is removed, because redemption is discovered. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on the Old and New Testament, from Sermon 343, On Susanna And Joseph 1 Dan 13 2 Mt 1.19 3 1 Tim 6.4 4 Mt 1.18-20

Susanna's Trial

Ἡ δὲ ἧν κλαίουσα. Διὰ γὰρ τῶν δακρύων ἐφεθκετο τὸν ἀπ' οὐρανῶν Λόγον, τὸν μέλλοντα διὰ δακρύωμ ἐγείρειν τὸν Λάζαρον τεθνηκότα Καὶ ἐπίστευσεν αὐτοῐς ἡ συναγωγή. Δεῖ οὖν ἡμᾶς ἐν παντὶ πραγματι ἐδραίους γενομένους, μὴ τοῖς ψευδέσιν προσέχειν, μηδὲ προσώποις ἀρχόντων εὐκόλως συναρπαζομένους πείθεσθαι, γινώσκοντας, ὅτι λόγον ἔχομεν δοῦναι τῷ θεῷ· ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ στοιχοῦντες, καὶ τὸ ἀκριβὲς τῆς πίστεως ἐπιζητοῦντες, εὐάρεστοι ἐσόμεθα τῷ θεῷ. Καὶ εἰσήκουσεν ὁ Θεὸς τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῆς. Ὅσοι γὰρ ἐπικαλοῦνται αὐτὸν ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας, τούτων ὁ Θεὸς ὑπακούει· ὅσοι δε ἐν δόλῳ καὶ ὑποκρίσει, ἀποστρέφει τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀπ' αὐτῶν. Πεπαλαιωμένε ἡμερῶν κακῶν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ φθαταντες ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ, διηγησάμεθα, ὅτι οἱ δύο πρεσβύτεροι εἰς τύπον ἀναφέρονται τῶν δύο λαῶν, τοῦ τε ἐκ περιτομῆς καὶ τοῦ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, οἵ καὶ ἀεὶ ἐπίβουλοι γίνονται τῆς Ἐκκλησίας· ἵδωμεν τα ῥήματα αὐτοῦ τοῦ Δανιὴλ, καὶ μάθωμεν, ὅτι ἐν μηδενὶ ἡμᾶς διαψεὺδεται ἡ Γραφή. Τῷ γὰρ πρώτῳ πρεσβυτέρῳ διαλεγόμενος, ὡς νομοθέτῃ ἐπιτιμᾷ· τῷ δὲ ἑτέρῳ, ὡς ἑθνικῳ διαλέγεται, σπέρμα Χαναιὰν ἀποκαλῶν· καίτοι ὄντα ἐν περιτομῇ Ἤδη γὰρ ἄγγελος Θεοῦ. Δηλοῖ δὲ, ὅτι ἡνίκα προσηύξατο ἡ Σωσάννα πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εἰσηκούσθη, τότε ἐξαπεστάλη ὁ ἄγγελος βοηθήσων αὐτῇ, ὄν τρόπον ἐπὶ τοῦ Τωβία καὶ τῆς Σάῥῥας συνέβη. Προσευξαμένων γὰρ αὐτῶν, τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ αὐτῇ ὠρᾳ εἰσηκούσθη ἡ δέησις ἀμθοτέρων, καὶ ἀπεστάλη ὁ ἀγγελος Ῥαφαὴλ ἰάσασθαι τοὺς δύο. Καὶ ἀνέστησαν ἐπὶ τοὺς δύο πρεσβυτέρους. Ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ εἰρημένον· Ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ, εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμπεσεῖται. Προσέχειν οὖν ὀφείλομεν πᾶσιν, ἀγαπητοὶ, φοβούμενοι μή τις ἔν τινι παραπτώματι κρατηθεὶς, αὐτὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς ἔνοχος γένηται, γινώσκοντες ὅτι ἔκδικος ὁ Θεὸς περὶ πάντων γίνεται· αὐτὸς ὤν ἐν κόσμῳ πραττομένων οὐδέν. Δι' ὃ ἀεὶ ἐγρήγοροι καρδίας καὶ σωφρόνως βιοῦντες, τὴν Σωσὰνναν μιμησώμεθα. Ἅγιος Ἱππόλυτος Ρώμης, Εἰς Των Σωσανναν Source:  Migne PG 10 696d-697b

And she was weeping. 1 For by her tears she attracted the Word from heaven, who with tears was to raise the dead Lazarus. And the assembly believed them. 2 We must, then, be steadfast in every affair, and give no heed to lies, and be convinced that we should not be carried off by persons in power, knowing that we have to give an account to God; for if we stand with the truth and accurately pursue the faith we shall be well-pleasing to God. And God heard her voice. 3 For Gods hears those who call upon Him from a pure heart. But God turns away His face from those who do stand in deceit and hypocrisy. You that have grown old in evil. 4 Now since at the outset we explained that the two elders are to be understood as a type of the two peoples, that of the circumcision and that of the Gentiles, they who are always opponents of the Church, let us consider the words of Daniel, and let us learn that Scripture deceives us in nothing. For, addressing the first elder, he reproves him as one who is schooled in the Law, but he addresses the other as a Gentile, calling him 'seed of Canaan,' although he was of the circumcision. For now the angel of God. 5 It is clear that when Susannah prayed to God and was heard, then the angel was sent then to help her, just as he came to Tobias and Sara. For when they prayed, the prayer of both was heard in the same day and the same hour, and the angel Raphael was sent to heal both. And they rose up against the two elders. 6 That the saying might be fulfilled: 'He who digs a pit for his neighbour, he shall fall into it.' 7 To all these things, then, we should give heed, beloved, fearing lest anyone be seized in any transgression, being guilty in his soul, knowing that God is the Judge of all things, whom nothing done in the world escapes. Therefore, always watchful in heart and prudent in life, let us imitate Susanna.  Saint Hippolytus of Rome, On Susanna 1 Dan 13.35 2 Dan 13.41 3 Dan 13.44 4 Dan 13.52 5 Daniel 13.55 6 Dan 13.61 7 Prov 26.27